Rifle Scopes pick my scope S3 or NF or?

[anthony1]

Will be putting together a new mid long range 308 once everything gets here. Now i gotta pick a scope. Ill use it for load developement at 100yds until i find what this gun likes then shoot mostly 3-600 yards, occasionally further but only 3-4 times a year. No hunting, just targets and some mid/long range plinking. Im looking for a high mag scope for this gun, 30x mag or more. No fixed powers, i shoot mostly in the summer and am not good enough to shoot through high power mirage, i need to be able to crank it down. I dont care if the scope is ffp or sfp.

Right now im pretty ready to just go ahead and order a Sightron S3 8-32x56 or the 10-50x60. The only other thing that really caught my eye was the Night Force 10-42x56BR. Price is optinal id like to stay under 1500 but if necessary ill spend whatever it takes. the only downside to these scopes is their internal moa adjsutments the s3s have 70 for the 32x and i think 50 for the 50x and the NF has i think 50-60? Id like more like 80 plus internal moa. oh yeah and ive never used a NF befor so if you could tell me the pros and cons of the many different recticles offerred that would be great also.

So either help me pick one of those or a similiar other option. Thanks.

 

[-=boone=-]

Re: pick my scope S3 or NF or?

I heard you should get a Premier Heritage...

 

[EventHorizon]

Re: pick my scope S3 or NF or?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: boone</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I heard you should get a Premier Heritage... </div></div>

Now that's funny...

 

[shoot4fun]

Re: pick my scope S3 or NF or?

A couple of friends are now using the Sightron S3 10-60 on their long range BR guns. I have taken a peek thru them and compared to my NF 12-42 BR. The S3 is a decent enough scope and is priced lower than the NF. When the mirage is really strong there was no difference I could see between NF and Sightron.

 

[lennyo3034]

Re: pick my scope S3 or NF or?

For known distance target shooting, there is really no difference between the two. Sometimes you can find a used Nightforce with illiminated reticle for cheap. If not, go with the Sightron.

 

[TonyAngel]

Re: pick my scope S3 or NF or?

I'm not sure of what you mean by wanting a high power scope so that you can dial it down to avoid mirage. Are you going higher than what you need because you think that being able to dial down is something that will get rid of the mirage or do you just want to have the extra magnification just in case you are able to use it?

In any case, unless you're getting into benchrest shooting, I would think that a 5.5-22X50 or something like that would be more than you'll need based on your stated uses. When you go higher, you start to encounter things like very limited elevation adjustment.

I'm a really big Nightforce fan. They have very good glass, tank like build and very ergonomic amenities. The very biggest deal about the NF scopes is their tank like build. I'd say that the NF is about at the entry threshold of upper end scopes and that you'd need to spend a lot more to get better.

If you are just building a range toy and don't really need a tank like build, but just something that is built well, I'd look at the newer Sightron offerings in the SIII line and those offered by Swarovski. Personally, I rather needed the tank like build, so sold my Swaro in favor of another NF, but to be honest, the Swaro had the edge in terms of field of view and glass quality.

I know quite a few guys that shoot benchrest, and they shoot with either Weavers or Sightrons. The Weavers seem to have glass quality in their favor, but those that were shooting Sightrons liked the knobs and adjustments on the Sightrons better. I also noticed that all of the Weavers were fixed mag scope, whereas the Sightrons were variables.

I haven't looked through one of the newer Sightron SIIIs yet, but am waiting for them to hit the streets. They should be pretty nice at around $900 (maybe less).

If it were me, I'd just get a Nightforce and rest comfortably knowing that I probably couldn't kill it if I tried. You can always get a canted base to make up for some of the lack of elevation adjustment.

 

[RollinCoal11]

Re: pick my scope S3 or NF or?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: boone</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I heard you should get a Premier Heritage... </div></div>

Yeah......that is funny